Moments of Yesterday and Today
by Bunny715
Summary: Jazz gets a new friend at school and Danny gets a new rival in ghost fighting. Chapter 5 now up. Read!
1. Chapter 1

This is my first posting on ff.net. I will update new chaptes as I get free time, but being a college student means being busy. Oh, yeah, I don't own Danny Phantom, or any affiliated characters. I do however own my car, and a hefty student loan bill. With that said, please enjoy. I don't need to tell you to review, do I?

"Danny!" Jazz Fenton stood in annoyed posture with her hands on her hips at the bottom of the stairs. "If you don't hurry up, you're walking!!" No sound or movement came from upstairs. "Fine," she said to herself and stomped back into the kitchen, grabbed her books off of the table, and headed for the door. Meanwhile, her younger brother was desperately trying to get dressed and shove pens and notebooks into his backpack in his room.  
"Man, I can't believe I overslept on the first day of school...again!" Hearing a car door slam, Danny peeked out his window to the street below. Jazz was starting the car. "Oh, no. She's gonna leave without me!" He grabbed his shoes and bookbag, went intangible, and floated down to the entrance hall of the house. "Jazz wait!" he called out the door. Jazz put the car into gear and pushed the passenger door open.  
"Hurry up, I have to pick up the new girl."  
"New? I didn't know there was a new kid in school. Where does she live?" Danny looked at the radio clock that was blinking 7:45. "Not too far, I hope. I don't wanna be late again, this year." Jazz dropped her foot lightly on the accelerator and the car took off down the street. She looked rather annoyed.  
"You're the one sleeping until seven-thirty and you're criticizing ME about being late?" She rolled her eyes. "Relax, she lives with Tyler Carnegie. Right next to the school." She looked over to see a blank expression come over the fifteen-year-old's face.  
"And he is...?"  
"Tyler? Star wide-receiver of the football team? He graduated last year and goes to Duke now? Tyler!"  
"Oh, right. Tyler." Danny sighed and rolled down his window. _Another popular person. Another person who never even bothered to look at me_, he thought depressingly. As they pulled up to the large house, he realized that this new kid only lived two doors down from his friend, Sam. He got out of the car in time to see her walk out the door. "Sam," he waved, and she waved back. "Jazz, I'll walk from here. Thanks."  
"Whatever," was the reply as she closed her door and made her way up the steps and rang the doorbell.  
"Meet this new girl, Sam?" Danny asked as he poked at the odd-looking tofu omelet that she was busy munching on. She slapped his hand.  
"Yeah, my parents and I were invited to the wedding last month. She seems nice; kinda has that snobby popularity air about her, though. I only talked with her for a little while. But she likes the same internet band as I do, so she can't be _that_ shallow."  
"Sam, do you think _every_ popular person is shallow?"  
"All of the popular kids at _our_ school," she mumbled through the rest of the tofu mess. Danny sighed as she took a swig of non-living, non- processed, freshly procured recycled mineral spring water. The first bell rang through the air and Danny had a feeling that tenth grade was going to be no easier than ninth.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so it's a little slow. It'll quicken up, I promise! PLEASE review!! I will like you if you do (wink)

Jazz peered over the railing to see if she could see anyone inside. Nothing. She rang the doorbell again. This time, a middle-aged butler with thinning hair opened the door.  
"May I help you, young lady," he asked dismissively.  
"Yes. My name is Jazz and I'm supposed to be showing Melissa to school." A teenager poked out from behind him. She was wearing a three- quarter sleeved green shirt and a black skirt. A matching green scarf tied back her brown, curly hair. She smiled shyly.  
"Hi, Jazz. You can call me Mel." She walked out the door and turned to thank the butler, who seemed startled that someone appreciated him. The two girls got in the car and sped off to a new year at Casper High.  
  
"Hey Sam, hey Danny." Tucker Foley waved from the entrance of the school as the first bell rang. "Ready for another ghost-butt kicking year of high school?" The two just glared at him. "What?" he asked innocently. Sam grumbled.  
"I wish the next three years would go by faster! I can't wait to go to college where I'll be accepted for who I am! Protests at every corner," she continued as the trio walked down the halls, "people who wear what they want without fear of being mocked and labeled outcasts! Rallies for the innocent! A plethora of traditions and people from every race!" The two boys raised their eyebrows to each other. It was Sam's turn to ask 'what.' "Hey, what do you guys have first period? I'm taking Japanese." They compared their schedules.  
"I have Biology and then Spanish," Danny commented. Tucker glanced over at the crumpled schedule.  
"Hey, me too. Sweet." He looked down. "Aw, man, but we don"t have Geometry together. I go to English, first. How 'bout you, Sam?"  
"I've got Japanese, then Biology, English, and I'm taking Algebra because I didn't take it last year." She scanned down. "Hey! We all have history together! Last period! At least it's something." The second bell rang. "I gotta go to the third floor. See you guys at lunch!" Sam yelled 'bye' as she ran for the stairs. Tucker and Danny turned to go to Biology with the dreaded principal, Mr. Lancer.  
  
"Ohayou Gozaimasu!" The teacher bowed in front of class. "Watashi no namae wa Chien sensei desu." She wrote her name on the board in English, then in Japanese. "Good morning. My name is Chien sensei." She turned to her paper. "Kurasu ga hajimarimasu, ne? Let's begin with role. As I call out your name, please take the name card I've made for you."  
She picked up the cards and began reading names. "Dauachi-san." Sam looked in front of her as the new girl took her card. "Maanson-san." Sam took her own. "Kuan-san." Sam turned to see Quan from the football team in class. The teacher handed out the rest of the cards, only eight people in the class.  
"Okay, who here has heard Japanese spoken before?" Everyone raised their hands. "How many of you have spoken it before?" Everyone's hand stayed up. "Conversational?" Everyone's hands dropped, save for one. The new girl kept her hand up. Chien sensei turned to her. "Dauachi-san. Can you introduce yourself in Japanese?" She nodded and lowered her hand.  
"Hajimemashite. Atashi no namae wa Melissa Dauherty desu. Atashi wa jyu-go-sai de, koukou no ni-nensei desu. Atashi no haha wa Aaron Carnegie to kekkonshiteimasu. Chichi wa...." She faltered a little, then finished. "Chichi wa shindeimashita. Douzo yoroshiku." She bowed her head slightly.  
"Totemo yokatta desu! However, we will use the proper 'watashi' instead of 'atashi.' But that was very good. Can you repeat it in English please?" Melissa nodded her head.  
"How do you do? My name is Melissa Daugherty. I am 15 years old and a sophomore in high school. My mother is married to Aaron Carnegie, and my father," she sighed, "is dead. Nice to meet you." Chien sensei thanked her again, then asked the remaining students to introduce themselves, more for the teacher and the new student than for the class, who all knew each other already.  
After class was over, Sam made her way over to the new girl. "Hey. How do you know Japanese so well?" Melissa blushed a little as she gathered her books.  
"I have some friends who speak it, and I want to be an interpreter. And I want to be a songwriter."  
"Mel!" Jazz called from the hallway. "We gotta get down the hall so I can show you to class." Melissa waved to Sam. "I'll see you later! Sayounara!"  
"Uh, Sayounara," Sam replied.  
Jazz grabbed Mel's schedule. "Spanish with Mr. Grace...oh, that's right down the hall!" She pointed down to the end of the hall, where Danny and Tucker had just come from the stairwell."Aww! Don't tell me he has Spanish, too!" Mel looked.  
"Who?" Danny saw Jazz pointing and stopped at the door, waiting for the two to get there.  
"Hey, Jazz. And you must be the new girl." He held out his hand. I'm Danny, and this," he nodded to his side, "is Tucker." Tucker waved his fingers.  
"I'm Mel," she took his outstretched hand politely and shook.  
"But you can call her Melissa," Jazz retorted. Danny raised his eyebrows a little, then walked into the classroom with Tucker in short pursuit. Jazz turned and headed for the stairs. "See you after class!" She opened the door and left. Mel walked in the room and took an empty desk next to Danny. The teacher, a squat elderly man with thick glasses, stood up from his desk.  
"Buena manana, clase," came the nasally voice. Mel smiled at Danny as she took out her notebook. Danny blushed, and did the same.


	3. Chapter 3

Yay! Finally got time to write another chapter! I hate taking summer classes. They're so time consuming and require me to think. They SOUND like a good idea when I sign up for them....  
  
"Man, this year's gonna be tougher than I thought," Tucker shuffled to the closest free table and set down his tray.  
"I dunno," Sam joined him. "My Japanese class might turn out better than I thought. And I looked through our lit book; it's got a lot of stuff we've already read. Didn't that Miss Hargrove seem really laid back, Tucker?" Danny added his thoughts while Sam squirted an organic ketchup packet onto her ultra-recyclable veggie burger.  
"That Melissa girl is in all of my classes so far, except biology. She's even a student tutor for geometry. And when I got every question wrong, she came up to me and said," Danny mocked a high-pitched feminine voice, which sounded pretty good, "'Don't worry, Danny, I'll have you turned into a model student by the end of the year, and pull you out of that outcast gutter Jazz told me you were in.' Like I'm some kind of community service project. She reminds me annoyingly of Jazz." He threw his tray down and plopped down on the bench.  
"Wow, I didn't get that vibe from her in my class. Or when I talked to her at the wedding. I thought she was nice and _not_ stuck-up. But, looks can be deceiving. I mean, she's sitting at the popular table already. Look," Sam pointed to the other side of the cafeteria where Mel was sitting with Jazz, surrounded by football players and preps.  
"Yeah," Tucker drawled. "Hey, Danny. I wonder if your sister will introduce me." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The other two stared at him. "What? She's cute. And if she were MY private tutor, I'd be the best and most popular kid in school!" Danny shook his head, and a fine stream of blue mist escaped his mouth.  
"Uh, oh. Not already. Guys, we've got ghost."  
  
"So, Mel, you like the strong, tall, athletic, popular type?" Dash flexed his muscles and raised his eyebrows. Mel looked slightly nautious. Jazz pushed him away.  
"Uh, Dash, right?" Mel put on a false smile as he leaned in close at the sound of his name. "I'm new, and there's a lot of people I don't know yet. I just want some time to--" A sudden chill came over her and a funny feeling crawled over her skin. "To, um, to..." She glanced around her in all directions. "To go to the bathroom! Be back!" She jumped up and ran towards the doors and into the hallway. The popular kids looked dumbly at each other.  
"Uh, okay?" Dash stammered.  
  
Mel peered down the hallway in each direction to make sure noone was coming. "There's a ghost in this school, and I'm gonna find it." She threw her hands into the air above her, and two disks of light appeared around her middle, turning her into a ghost.  
  
Danny peered around the corner to make sure noone would see him, then turned to his two friends. "You guys keep a lookout for anyone. I'm going ghost!" Danny threw his hands into the air as two familiar rings of light swept over his body, revealing Danny Phantom. He hovered in mid-air, trying to sense where the ghost was. In a classroom down the hall, the ghost of a janitor was flung out the door. He was about to demand what the janitor was doing, but then another ghost appeared.  
It was a girl, no older that Danny himself. She was wearing white pants and a white shirt. She had on black boots, and a black headband to keep back her straight white hair. The odd thing about her was her skin. It wasn't green like all the other ghosts Danny had encountered. In fact, it was flesh colored, like his own. She didn't seem to notice him, though; the ghost girl's attention was solely on the janitor ghost.  
"I said, answer me! What did you think you were doing in the lab mixing up chemicals? What, were you trying to blow up the school? Do you know how many people you could have hurt?!" Her hands were balled into fists by her side and her angry eyes glowed a vibrant green. The janitor grabbed his mop and flung it at the girl, who, quickly noticing Danny, moved him in front of her as a shield. Not realizing what was happening, the mop hit Danny square in the face, with all of its disgusting wetness. The janitor took this opportunity to fly back into the room and break one of the beakers containing a highly toxic chemical. As the liquid mixed with some of the others that had already been spilt, lethal fumes began to rise into the air.  
The janitor cackled. "Now you will all pay for the way you treated me when I worked here! I cleaned up your spilled food, overflowed toilets, stink bombs, and messy stomach contents! Who thanked me? Noone did! Noone appreciated my deeds, and now, you'll all wish I were here to clean this deadly mess up! Ha ha haha!" Back outside, Danny was spitting out the various nasties that one might find in a used high school mop.  
"You know, if you're going to get in my way, you might as well be useful," the mysterious ghost girl said. "You take care of those chemicals while I take out Mr. Ugly." Danny looked at the mop as the girl charged after the cackling ghost janitor.  
"And I thought I was supposed to be the hero." But he knew he couldn't let the fumes make their way throughout the school, so he disappeared into the closet and reappeared with a bag of kitty litter (to clean up the mess). Meanwhile, the girl had really messed up the janitor with carefully aimed ectoplasmic blasts. The janitor hung limply in in the grasp of the girl, defeated.  
"What to do with you? You're not worth draining your energy, but I can't let you go, either." Danny grabbed the Fenton Thermos from where it hung on his shoulder.  
"I can handle that," he said, and took off the lid as bluish-white ectoplasm grabbed the janitor and sucked him in. The ghost girl turned to face him.  
"And you," she began. "Aren't you a little amateur to be dealing with ghosts?" She crossed her arms and floated in mid-air, waiting for an answer. "I mean, you're obviously new at this. You just stood there, like an idiot. You could have gotten hurt."  
Hey! I've been doing this for almost six...months. Don't tell me I don't know what I'm doing!" He puffed out his chest. "Who are you, anyway? I've never seen you before. And how do you know what I am?" The girl laughed.  
"You think halfa's can't tell each other apart from ghosts? You _are_ new at this. I've had these powers since I was born, so I CAN tell you that you don't know what you're doing. And you don't need to know me. Like I don't want to know you. Next time, just leave the ghosts to me. Come back when you can fight...and not rely on that technology you've got." She pointed to his thermos, then phased out, leaving Danny hovering over a pile of kitty litter.  
Sam and Tucker ran into the room as Danny turned back into a human. "Tucker, you're right. This is going to be a very bad year." 


	4. Chapter 4

Gomen! Gomen! I was so busy over the weekend that I didn't have any time to do another chapter. I also have SO much homework and readings for my Japanese and Arthurian legends classes O.o so much work!!! I've also started illustrating my story. First pic is on deviantart.com my sn is Bunny715...if you're interested. OK, on with the chapter!  
  
That Friday...  
  
Danny tossed his backpack on the kitchen table. Tucker pulled out his Spanish and geometry books while Sam took her history book out of her own bag. Danny grabbed three glasses from the cabinet and filled two with juice from the refrigerator. The third he filled with a bottle of organic fruit juice, then brought them to the table and took a chair.  
"We're doin' Spanish first, right? I think I'm gonna fail this quiz Monday. Uh, school is...escalu?" Tucker opened his book to the vocabulary page, which they were being tested on.  
"No," Sam interjected, "We need to go over the timeline for our history test. That first chapter was thirty pages long! We're going to be studying all weekend!" She pointed to her opened textbook.  
"Sam, I don't care if I don't remember who the king was when the pilgrims first came over to America. But if I get behind in Spanish now, I'll never catch up!!" He looked down at the page. "Escuela! See, I need to study Spanish!!"  
"Tucker, if you do bad in Spanish, you can drop it. You can't drop history!! You need to start passing classes!" Tucker ignored her, and passed his book to Danny. "Quiz me, Danny." Sam threw her history book on top and added,  
"Yeah, quiz him on the first mayor of Plymouth! Which Indians greeted the settlers?" Danny took a gulp of his juice as his two friends bickered back and forth about what to study first. Danny heard someone come in the front door, and assumed it to be just Jazz, until he heard talking.  
"So he practically told me I was going to go out with him."  
"Well, I warned you. He isn't very intelligent, but he's very sure of himself."  
"Full of himself, more the like. It's against my religion to date guys like that." Jazz and Mel walked into the kitchen, arms filled with grocery bags.  
"Really?" Jazz inquired as she put down the bags on the counter and started unloading the contents.  
"No," Mel started emptying her own, "but wouldn't that be an interesting religion." Sam grabbed her book from in front of Danny and closed it.  
"Fine, Tucker. You guys study Spanish. I'll just get Mel to look over my Japanese."  
"No way! Mel's gonna help us study Spanish! She doesn't have time for your crap!" He grabbed his own book. "Mel, quiz me!"  
Sam stood up and yelled even louder, "No! Quiz me!" Mel turned around slowly.  
"Gee, guys, I'm flattered, really, that you'd fight over me like this. But I already promised Jazz I'd help her make dinner. Maybe later."  
"Great," Danny breathed. "Why don't you just take my room while you're at it? You've got everything else of mine, Miss goody two-shoes." He slammed his glass on the table and headed for the den.  
"Danny!" Jazz yelled angrily. She started after him, but Mel stopped her and went quietly into the next room, where Danny was slumped on the couch, angrily flipping through channels.  
"Is that what you think?" she asked.  
"Leave me alone," he snapped back bitterly. She sat down next to him, which made him flip off the tv and jump up to go upstairs.  
"Why don't you like me?" She followed him. He turned around halfway up the stairs.  
"I said leave me alone. I don't wanna talk to you. You think you're better than me? You wanna make me more like you? You don't even know me!" Mel stopped.  
"Danny, I..." she started quietly. "I don't want to change you."  
"Well, then, what was all that talk about making me a model student? I'm not just some charity case to you?"  
"I didn't mean for it to come out like that. That's not what I meant by it. Danny, you're my friend's sister. Jazz talks about you all the time. You mean the world to her and she's worried about you. I thought, because we were in so many of the same classes, that I could help you, you know, study and get better grades, give Jazz a reason not to worry." Danny paused and looked at Mel's hurt expression. Maybe he was too hard on her. Maybe he should give her a chance. _Jazz really cares that much?_ He shuffled back down the stairs and fell into the couch, eyes downcast. He didn't want her to see how bad he suddenly felt.  
"Jazz is always worried about me," he sighed. "You're not going to make it any better."  
"You'll never know unless you give it a try," Mel was behind him now, and as he turned around, she smiled hopefully. _She's not mad at me?_ "Will you give me a try?" Danny smiled weakly.  
"I dunno, if you start hanging out with me, Dash will label you a geek. You'll be a social outcast, too." Her smile brightened.  
Really? Oh, great, finally, I've been looking for a way to get him off my back!" Danny chuckled. Is that a 'yes?'" He nodded his head. "Let's get back into the kitchen. I'm making gyros. You like gyros?"  
"Never had them."  
"I think you'll like them."  
  
Is it just me, or do Tuck and Sam quarrel a little too much? Foreshadowing, much?


	5. Chapter 5

So, why has it taken me a week to update with a new chapter? Because I'm lazy! Scold me! Sorry about the Spiderman 2 pun; I know it's lame, but I did it anyway!  
  
"Danny, I thought you said you invited Mel to come see Arachnaboy 2 with us. You _did_ ask her, didn't you?" Sam had her arms crossed and tapped her foot on the carpeted floor of the theater lobby. Danny raised an eyebrow.  
"Yes. I asked her this morning before she left. She said she'd be here. Jazz was going to come, too. Something about protecting Mel?" He tossed some popcorn at Tucker, who dodged left to catch it in his mouth. Sam rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway. "You know," he tossed another piece, which bounced of Tucker's nose, "those two don't go anywhere without the other. I think I might get stuck with another sister.  
"Maybe that's not such a bad thing, she's cute, smart and funny. You could get Jazz to put in a good word for you...or me!" Tucker jumped up in time to catch another piece while talking.  
"Tucker, I do _not_ like her like that. Before yesterday I hated her guts, remember?" The final piece of popcorn went long, and Tucker, intent on catching it, ran right into Jazz without looking. He smiled apologetically.  
"There you guys are! Come on, the movie's about to start!!" Sam grabbed a hold of the other two girls by the arms and made a beeline for theater 8. Danny and Tucker shrugged their shoulders and followed.

"Isn't Arachnaboy awesome?" Sam whispered dreamily. Mel sighed as the hunky super-teen in tight black and red costume swung from building to building using webbing from his feet.  
"Yeah. I wish I had a sexy superhero boyfriend like Crystal. He could whisk me off anytime." The three girls sighed again, and Tucker looked at Danny wide-eyed in the row behind them.  
"_Now_ I wish I had your powers." Tucker huffed, then quickly shut his mouth as he saw Mel suddenly get up and head for the aisle and the door to the lobby. A wisp of faint blue breath escaped Danny's mouth.  
"Maybe not now. I'll be back. I've got a ghost to take care of." Danny jumped up and ran to the mens' room, changing into Danny Phantom in the privacy of one of the stalls. He went intangible and found the ghost in one of the projector rooms, busily switching movie reels.  
"Let's see...Ponies Return to Starland? No, I think they'll just love Attack of the Killer Toilet!" The ghost giggled as she switched reels and fed the film into the projector.  
"What do you think you're doing?" Danny demanded. The ghost, not wanting to be disturbed or distracted from her fun, immediately sent a huge crate of movie reels flying at him. Not having time to think ( C student, remember?), he shielded himself with his arms in front of him. A green blast from his right intercepted the blow and sent the crate into the wall. He lowered his arms and shuddered when he saw the ghost girl from school floating beside him.  
"You really do suck, don't you?" she asked as she sent another beam of ghost energy towards the ghost, who narrowly dodged it.  
"Go away; I can handle this," Danny yelled as he flew around behind the ghost and kicked her from the side, knocking the reel off of the projector. "Put the other movie back on this thing. I'll take care of her!" Danny grabbed behind him for the Fenton Thermos, forgetting he'd left it at home. The ghost came right for him, hands glowing with energy to blast at him. He ducked, then grabbed her ankle as she past him, and slammed her to the floor. The mysterious ghost girl was floating with her arms crossed, watching.  
"Do you mind? I'm missing my movie."  
"I don't have the thermos to lock her up!" The girl rolled her eyes and shook her head.  
"Here, I'll do you a favor and show you a little trick." She floated over and grabbed the ghost by her shoulders. "You don't need fancy equipment to get rid of a ghost." Glowing green nails extended from her own and pierced into the ghost's body. The ghost screamed and writhed in fear as all of the spectral energy was sucked from her, until she disappeared into nothing. The nails faded, and the girl said before flying off, "Instead of pushing energy out, try pulling it in. That's how to do it." Danny was left wide-eyed and dumbfounded at what he'd just seen. That girl destroyed a ghost. Not just beat it up and threw it into the ghost zone, but _destroyed it_. It was time to start taking this ghost girl seriously and beware of her. He didn't want her to do that to him. He went intangible again and floated back down to his own movie, where Mel had just sat back down.  
"That was really odd, Danny. You guys were gone the same amount of time. You sure nothin's going on between you two?" Tucker inquired slyly after he sat back down.  
"Tuck, I never even saw her. But that ghost girl from the other day was there. I gotta tell you and Sam later what she did." Danny grabbed some popcorn from the almost empty bucket when he realized it. _We were gone for the same amount of time, I never saw her but that ghost girl, she got back right before I did...Mel's the ghost!_

A/N: What was I thinking...feet?? Crystal is a play on Mary Jane (you know, Crystal Meth?). Get it? No? Screw you anyway, my Beta thought it was funny!


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